Baseball Card Market Report for September 28 - October 4, 2023 - Top eBay Sales post
PLUS -- Are "fun" baseball cards worth anything?
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Into the Void
The final week of the baseball season didn’t offer up much drama outside of Texas and the start of the offseason managerial-go-’round.
So could the card market step into the breach and give us a little excitement?
Well, if you like old, seldom-seen (these days, at least) cards, you were in luck last week.
Leading off our list of the top-selling baseball cards on eBay last week (see bottom of post) is a “perfect” 1975 Topps Rod Carew card. It’s not a rookie card, or a high number, or a 1-of-1, but it’s a beaut.
And you’re not likely to see that card in that condition change hands again for a good long while.
At the bottom of the list is a 1952 Topps Eddie Mathews rookie card with some flaws. But this is the last card (#407) in the set that pretty much defined the modern hobby, and it’s a classic that’s sort of been lost in the glare of the pandemic-era madness.
In between those two gems are more fun — but expensive — cards than you can shake a stick of hard pink gum at.
And, say, speaking of fun baseball cards…
Does “Fun” Matter to Card Values?
One of the sets we looked at this week in our series of cards that sold for the most on eBay recently was 1991 Score.
You can check out that video below, but you should know a couple of things about 1991 Score before we go on:
It’s the epitome of overproduced, “Junk Wax” baseball cards.
It was never really sold in “wax” at all.
It’s as fun as all get-out.
OK, fine, that’s a few things, not a couple, but still.
It’s that last point I want to key in on here in a minute — specifically, can being “fun” help to offset being Junk Wax-y when it comes to card prices?
First, here are is that video so you can get a glimpse at which 1991 Score cards are causing any sort of stir on eBay these days:
Now, in terms of answering that “fun” question up above, I consulted the trusty PSA Auction Prices Realized tool to look at rough values for the top 1991 Score cards before and after the pandemic.
In this case, “top” is a rough heuristic that’s pretty much the cards that have sold most often (25 or more sales was my basic cutoff) and for the most money over the years.
I chose PSA 10 as the condition to hone in on because it’s the most common graded condition in the PSA database for this set. And also because Junk Wax cards tend to fall through the floor, value-wise, pretty quickly in lower grades, which makes it hard to do comparisons.
Here’s what I came up with:
1991 Score Bo Jackson (Bo Breaker #773) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $50
2023 Value: $250
Profit/loss: $200
% change: 400
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Nolan Ryan (#4) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $135
Profit/loss: $115
% change: 575
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Ken Griffey, Jr. (The Franchise #858) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $25
2023 Value: $50
Profit/loss: $25
% change: 100
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Ken Griffey, Jr. (Dream Team #892) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $50
Profit/loss: $30
% change: 150
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Bo Jackson (Rifleman #412) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $45
Profit/loss: $25
% change: 125
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Bo Jackson (Master Blaster #692) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $15
2023 Value: $40
Profit/loss: $25
% change: 167
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Ken Griffey, Jr. (Rifleman #697) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $15
2023 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $20
% change: 133
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Rickey Henderson (Dream Team #890) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $20
2023 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $15
% change: 75
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
1991 Score Nolan Ryan (1990 Highlight #417) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $10
2023 Value: $32
Profit/loss: $22
% change: 220.
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1991 Score Chipper Jones (Draft Pick #671) - PSA 10
2019 Value: $15
2023 Value: $35
Profit/loss: $20
% change: 133
Check prices on eBay (affiliate link)
—
If you bought one of each of these cards late in 2019 in PSA 10 condition, you’d have paid around $210 for the lot.
And if you sold them piecewise this past summer, you might reasonably have pulled in about $710.
That’s a $500 profit, or around $50 per card, on average. Overall, that’s a 237% increase in your hypothetical nest egg.
I doubt anyone actually pulled off this exact turnaround, but the point of this exercise was to see if these fun cards held up well relative to the market the last few years.
I think you can make a strong case that they did. If they hadn’t, you wouldn’t have seen any increases, or maybe even price drops, as the rest of the market flourished.
Of course, we’d need to run this exercise for a few more Junk Wax sets to see who the real winners have been lately. And maybe we’ll do that.
But something else to notice about the above list is that, with the exception of that first Nolan Ryan card (and maybe the Chipper, depending on your definition), all of them are of the “fun” variety: Rifleman, Bo Breaks, Highlights, etc.
Who says you can’t still have “fun” with this hobby?
You can bet the buyers had at least some temporary fun — in the heat of the moment, before financial panic set in — when they were bidding for the …
Top Baseball Card Sales on eBay for September 28 - October 4, 2023
(Quick note — this list contains affiliate links to the original eBay listings.)
If you want to see updated 30-day market toppers anytime, we have a couple of resources over on WaxPackGods.com:
Most expensive baseball cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive football cards sold in the last 30 days
Most expensive basketball cards sold in the last 30 days
Now, on with the show …
1975 TOPPS #600 ROD CAREW TWINS HOF POP 4 PSA 10
Selling Price: $22,922
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle Yankees RC Rookie HOF SGC 4 " ICONIC CARD "
Selling Price: $20,101
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1951 Bowman #253 Mickey Mantle BVG 6
Selling Price: $18,957
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1952 Topps #311 No black border around Yankee logo, "e" in signature.Studio Sign
Selling Price: $18,100
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1999 Upper Deck Game Jersey Ken Griffey Jr. JERSEY AUTO JSY # 15/24 #JRS BGS 8.5
Selling Price: $15,656
Date Sold: 09/30/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1989 UPPER DECK STAR ROOKIE #1 KEN GRIFFEY JR. RC HOF PSA 10 DNA AUTO 10
Selling Price: $15,001
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2023 Bowman Chrome Ethan Salas 1st Bowman Chrome True Red Auto SSP 2/5! PADRES
Selling Price: $13,014
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break # 53 Babe Ruth SGC 2.5 GOOD+
Selling Price: $11,550
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1977 TOPPS #450 PETE ROSE REDS PSA 10
Selling Price: $10,700
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
MICKEY MANTLE 1952 TOPPS BASEBALL #311 ROOKIE RC NY YANKEES HOF
Selling Price: $10,671
Date Sold: 09/30/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break #144 Babe Ruth PSA 2.5 GOOD+
Selling Price: $10,501
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break #149 Babe Ruth PSA 2 GOOD
Selling Price: $10,000
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2018 #1/1 SHOHEI OHTANI TOPPS TRANSCENDENT AUTO RC ROOKIE RED JAPAN BGS 9.5 W/10
Selling Price: $9,800
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson #50 SGC 96 Mint 9
Selling Price: $9,600
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break #160 Lou Gehrig PSA 4 VG-EX
Selling Price: $9,305
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1923 W515-1 #47 Babe Ruth New York Yankees HOF PSA 7 NM " PWCC-E "
Selling Price: $9,200
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break #181 Babe Ruth PSA 2 GOOD
Selling Price: $9,055
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
BABE RUTH GEORGE HERMAN 1933 Goudey #53 Great Bambino Hall of Fame HOF SGC 2
Selling Price: $8,701
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
Nolan Ryan HOF Jerry Koosman Signed 1968 Topps #177 RC PSA 7 PSA/DNA 10 AUTO
Selling Price: $8,051
Date Sold: 10/03/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2022 BOWMAN CHROME ELLY DE LA CRUZ AUTO RC GOLD REFRACTOR #41/50 FLAWLESS PSA 10
Selling Price: $8,000
Date Sold: 10/02/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1952 TOPPS #261 WILLIE MAYS GIANTS PSA 4 VG-EX
Selling Price: $7,900
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
Termarr Johnson - 2022 Bowman Draft ORANGE REFRACTOR Auto /25 Pittsburgh Pirates
Selling Price: $7,699
Date Sold: 09/29/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2018 Bowman Chrome Shohei Ohtani RC Rookie PSA 9 PSA/DNA 10 AUTO
Selling Price: $7,200
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
MIKE TROUT 2009 BOWMAN CHROME ROOKIE AUTOGRAPH ANGELS AUTO BGS 9.5 GEM MINT 10
Selling Price: $6,600
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1999 SP AUTHENTIC KEN GRIFFEY JR AUTO UPPER DECK CERTIFIED #22 OF ONLY 24 ISSUED
Selling Price: $6,425
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
Bobby Witt Jr. 2020 Bowman Chrome Auto True Blue Refractor Rookie PSA 10 Auto 10
Selling Price: $6,150
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
Aaron Judge 2013 Bowman Chrome Blue Wave Refractor /50 Auto BGS 9.5
Selling Price: $6,100
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1970 Topps Baseball Steve Carlton #220 PSA 10 CARDINALS GEM MINT HOF POP 12
Selling Price: $5,985
Date Sold: 10/03/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1956 Topps Set-Break # 30 Jackie Robinson White Back PSA 8 NM-MT
Selling Price: $5,705
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2005 Playoff Prime Cuts Game Used Memorabilia AUTO Willie Mays HOF Giants 1/1
Selling Price: $5,655
Date Sold: 10/02/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
2018 Bowman Chrome Shohei Ohtani RC Rookie Signed SGC 9 w/ 10 ON CARD AUTO
Selling Price: $5,500
Date Sold: 10/03/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
RONALD ACUNA JR 2017 BOWMAN PROSPECTS PSA 10 GEM MINT #BP127 MVP?
Selling Price: $5,255
Date Sold: 10/01/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1933 Goudey Set-Break # 92 Lou Gehrig PSA 3 VG
Selling Price: $5,226
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)
1952 Topps #407 Eddie Mathews RC Rookie HOF HIGH# VG Condition w/ Light Crease
Selling Price: $5,100
Date Sold: 09/28/2023
See listing (affiliate link)